§ Mr. David AtkinsonTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will propose that EU fisheries legislation will provide for the possession of illegal mesh size nets to be illegal; and if he will make a statement. [19258]
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§ Mr. JackEU regulations provide for various minimum mesh sizes to be used in different circumstances. In practice, a fishing vessel will carry nets of all the mesh sizes likely to be needed for any trip. For example, in the English channel cod and sole must be targeted with trawl mesh sizes of not less than 80 mm, but it would be reasonable in season to take sprat on the same fishing trip and for this a net of not less than 16 mm is permitted. Enforcement activity focuses on the mesh sizes and the nets employed in relation to the catch retained on board.
Within the EU, consideration has been given in the past to imposing a "single net rule' so that only one mesh size can be carried on a fishing vessel. However, so far it has been concluded that this would be too restrictive to be practical for general application.